The Lunar Pull
by JustWantToBelieve
Summary: One night. Just one night brings in a world of supernatural drama into Red's plain stable-boy life. Everything has changed and he fights to gain some semblance of normalcy. RedxKristy, RedxLisa


**The Lunar Pull**

**Chapter 1:**

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"_This evening the temperature should be around 65 degrees with fairly clear skies. The temperatures will rise tomorrow to a high of 80 and a low of 67. Tuesday will be about the same with a high of 79 and low of 64. The temperatures will drop down throughout the week as a cold front blows through and brings us some much-needed rain. Brian?" _

"_Thanks, Chris: now onto breaking news on the recent wolf attack spree. There has been a sighting of the wolf in Fairfax County. Local law enforcement and wildlife specialists have been on its tail for several days now with K-9 units, search choppers and heavily-armed ground crews. Police warn citizens not to go out after dark, especially alone, and to keep your pets indoors and on leashes. If you see the wolf, PLEASE stay in your home and call the police. DO NOT attempt to handle it yourself. Police have warned that it is especially dangerous because it lacks the fear of humans. It has already claimed seven human lives and several lives of household pets. Again, DO NOT attempt to handle it yourself…Now, onto other news and many will say, a happier note-" _

The radio was cut off as Red O'Malley shut off his truck. Red unstrapped himself, got out and locked the doors before walking to the back of the truck where the bags of feed lay. He pocketed his keys with one hand as he pulled down the hatch with his other. He placed a bag on his shoulder before walking into the main barn, where he walked past the office. Inside the office the stable owner, Max Regnery, could be seen sitting in his chair doing paperwork.

Max looked up from the papers he was working on as his eyes caught movement. Red was passing by with a bag of Carb Guard on his shoulder. He jumped up from his chair and leaned out the door to call: "Ah, you've got the feed! Great!" Max grinned for a second before adding, "I'll help you out!"

Red placed the bag down in front of a barrel in the feeding hold and smiled up toward Max. "Yeah, alright!" He called back as he made his way back to the truck.

He met Max by the back of the truck as the stable owner lifted a bag onto each shoulder.

"Show off," Red teased as he copied Max.

Max grinned. "Oh, I could carry more, but I wouldn't want to make you feel bad."

Red laughed. "I'm sure that's the reason." He snickered for a moment longer as the two walked rather lazily alongside each through the barn doors.

"What are you trying to say?" Max asked, feigning offense.

"How's your back feeling?"

Max snorted. "I oughta throw this bag at you." He shrugged the shoulder carrying the bag he was referring to.

Red laughed and swallowed a witty reply as he placed the Equine Senior in a separate pile from the Carb Guard.

Max placed his bags in the Carb Guard pile with a grunt. "It feels fine, by the way."

Red chuckled and threw his hands up as if to surrender. "Okay, okay."

Max grinned and shook his head, jokingly pushing Red's shoulder as he passed.

It took two more runs to nearly finish getting the rest of the bags. Only one was left in the truck bed.

They began walking toward the front of the barn, still talking. "Alright, I think you have it from here. I have to finish some paperwork and then I'll be off." Max clapped Red on the shoulder before he made his way to his lower office.

"Okay, I appreciate the help," Red said over his shoulder. He went out to the truck to grab the last bag, which he placed on his shoulder before closing the back of the truck.

After adding the bag to the pile of Equine Senior feed, he began to clean out the two plastic barrels prior to filling them with their respective feed. Once finished, he swept up stray pellets and threw out the bags before he began his routine check of the horses, in which he made sure horses had enough water to last the night, had no injuries or seemed ill, had nothing left on them or left in the stall, and made sure all stall doors were locked properly.

Midway through the routine, Max exited the office and locked the door. He glanced down the barn toward Red. "I'm off to the house. Goodnight, Red, see ya in the morning."

"See you in the morning, Max," Red said distractedly, only looking up to wave after checking Patch's stall.

Max walked out of the barn, shutting and locking the main doors on his way.

Red finished checking the stalls and went to the faucet with two buckets. Pepper, Dime, Comanche, and a boarder horse, Dave, were the big drinkers of the barn. Pepper and Dime drank a lot seemingly because of their older age and Dave's special diet for his diabetes left him pretty thirsty. Comanche was a different story. He liked to turn his water into a type of tea, stuffing his bucket with hay and letting it sit until the water turned green. Red always had to fish out his hay and add more water to his bucket. He'd learned not to clean out the bucket completely, because Comanche refused to drink his water any other way.

Once he finished watering the four horses, he placed the buckets back in the tack room. He turned off the lights and locked the door, then checked the office doors before shutting off the barn lights. He walked out the small door beside the large main barn doors and locked it behind him.

Sighing, he made his way to his small log cabin as he stuffed the keys into his jacket pocket. He looked up at the stars and moon that lit up the night with a light silver-blue hue. The only sounds were from the crickets and the distant sounds of automobiles driving on the highway. He liked this kind of night. Sometimes he'd hop up on the truck and lay there, looking at the stars. On warmer nights he'd lay in the grass. He didn't feel like doing that tonight, though, as he was too tired from the long day of work. The shipment had come in later than expected. It was definitely not what he or Max had planned. He'd need to go to bed early in order to get up at 6:30 tomor–

BAM!

All the mundane thoughts came to a screeching halt as Red was sent sprawling onto his back. His head reeled from the impact and it took him a few seconds to realize that there was a warm body hovering over him. He opened his eyes and stared into a reflective, flaxen pair that glared back.

His breathing hitched as fear swept over him.

A snarl ripped through the wolf's throat as it revealed its sharp, glistening fangs; rivulets of saliva dripped from its maw onto its chest. Red didn't dare move–even if he wanted to, he wouldn't have been able to obey his body's commands. As his blank mind scrambled to function and begin processing ways to escape, the large black wolf stepped over him and walked away. Red was suspiciously and frightfully confused as he mustered up the courage to pull himself onto his elbows, and rightfully so when jaws clenched around his shoulder.

Red shrieked and grappled uselessly at the attacker behind him. The wolf dug its fangs deeper into his flesh, stuttering his cries and gasps of pain, and began dragging him backwards at a surprisingly quick speed. His shoulder burned as he flailed around, trying to get out of the wolf's tight hold. The brick walkway scraped at his back as he was pulled toward the woods. His hands grasped fur and then an ear. He dug what little fingernails he had into the wolf's ear and wrenched with all his might. The canine yelped and, to Red's surprise, released him.

He rolled onto his stomach, leapt to his feet and began running in an instant, focusing on the barn door and cursing the fact that he had just locked it. He glanced behind him to see the wolf was already close to his feet.

_Shit._

He rushed for the truck door instead and had his keys out of his pocket, butsharp teeth tore into his lower calf and brought him down as he was about to unlock the door. On the way down he scraped his chin and cheek on the solid brick ground. The air rushed out of his lungs from the harsh impact. His lanyard and keys lay clattered haphazardly to the ground, inches from his hand.

The wolf shook his leg like a toy, tearing up his lower leg. He cried out in agony and thrashed his legs, trying to kick the wolf off. He clawed at the ground, trying to clasp the edges of the brick, anything that he could reach, as he was dragged away from his only hope of survival. But there was nothing he could hold onto that could help him, so he aborted the idea and twisted onto his back as the ground became dirt. He lifted his good leg back and began kicking the wolf repeatedly in the snout with his steel-toed boots.

The wolf yelped and released him after the fourth kick, snarling offensively. Red crawled backward as fast as his limbs could take him. The wolf snarled and leapt at his throat. The only things he could do were shout and throw an arm in front of him for protection.

BANG!

The wolf landed solidly on his chest with a yowl. It pushed off of him immediately, then turned tail and sprinted off towards the woods.

Click. BANG!

Dirt sprayed up a ways ahead of Red, just missing the wolf by inches as it dove into the brush.

Red dropped his head back to the ground and let out the breath he had been holding.

"Red?!" It was Max. He strode over to Red and placed the gun on the ground, keeping it in reach just in case.

"You have amazing timing," Red declared hoarsely. He pulled himself into a sitting position and massaged his clawed and bruised chest–the wolf was certainly no light weight. His head swam a little but he tried to ignore it. He was just glad to be alive.

Max was already by his side and held a supportive arm across Red's back. He had to lean into his support as the world spun and caused a wave of nausea to hit him.

"Thank God for that then, huh?" Max said grimly.

Red nodded, but soon regretted it. He drew his hand up to his wounded shoulder but didn't dare touch it in case of causing himself more pain. "Think that's the wolf they were talking about on the news?" he asked through clenched teeth.

"I wouldn't doubt it. Come on; let's go in the house while I get you an ambulance." Max stood and carefully pulled Red up by his good arm. "How's your leg? Think you can walk on it?"

Red put weight on the leg and then took a step. He inhaled sharply and cringed at the hot, stabbing pain it caused. He would have fallen flat on his face if Max hadn't caught him.

He took a deep, shuddery sort of breath. "I guess not."

Lines of worry creased into Max's forehead as he shifted Red's arm around the back of his neck, holding the weight off of the injured leg.

"The women are going to flip when they see this, you know." His lips twitched, trying to form a smile.

"Oh, trust me, I know." Max gave an empty chuckle. "I live with them."

The two laughed quietly at their little joke, Max now slowly walking and Red now slowly hobbling toward the house.

Halfway to the house, Red asked, "Do you know if you got it?"

"I shot it, yes, but I don't think the bullet wound was fatal. There will definitely be no trails open until we know it's gone out of the area or put down. The police will probably try their best to have the latter happen since it's been attacking people… You're going to have to get rabies shots, you know."

"I think I can handle a few needle pricks after an ordeal like that," Red proclaimed in all seriousness.

Max nodded and laughed in agreement. "Understandable."

"Oh my, Red! You poor dear! What in the world happened to you?" Mrs. Reg shouted from the porch. She looked toward Max, eyebrows raised in both surprise and anxiety. "I heard gunshots!" She hustled her way down the stairs and toward the pair.

Max tilted his head closer to Red to whisper, "And so it begins." He made it sound like they were about to go into battle. Red stifled a laugh at this as Mrs. Reg reached them and began to fret over him. Max assisted Red up the stairs as Mrs Reg hurried to open the door, muttering anxiously about needing towels and antiseptics. Once the two men were through the doorway, Mrs. Reg shut and locked the door.

In the shrubbery nearby, a pair of flaxen eyes glowed in the night. Watching...Waiting…

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**Disclaimer: I don't own the 'Saddle Club'. If I did, I wouldn't be on this site. ;P I do, however, own any OC's I may bring into the story and this story plot. **

**A/N: Hello there! this is my first Saddle Club fanfic and I hope you all enjoy it! Let me know how it is! I love feedback. I also like talking to my readers. I like talking in general. lol To warn you, I have a busy schedule and I don't know how quickly I will be updating, but I'll try my best to be reasonable. :) Again, enjoy the story, and send in a review! Talk to you all later! **


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